A recent workshop was held in Denmark some time (May) this year, and a report from that workshop was on the journal Mechanisms of Ageing and Development (Volume 129, Issue 10, October 2008, Pages 614-623). It was hosted by the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health Sciences, in conjunction with the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and was entitled Aging—From Molecules to Populations.
“One of the goals of IARU is to bring together an international group of researchers with different strengths, areas of expertise and resources, to promote research on human aging and longevity.”
Three collaborative efforts were described:
“DARC – Danish Aging Research Center (DARC). Formation of DARC was made possible by the support of the Velux Foundation. The DARC member universities include The Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen, the Danish Centre for Molecular Gerontology at the University of Aarhus, and the Aging Research Center at the University of Southern Denmark. DARC will exploit the distinct strengths of these research programs, which span from molecular biology to epidemiology, demography and social sciences. In particular, Aarhus University has strong expertise in molecular gerontology, University of Copenhagen has strong expertise in social epidemiology, and Southern Denmark University has strong expertise in genetic epidemiology. DARC will perform studies primarily using five existing Danish cohorts: The Danish Twin Registry, The Danish 1905 Cohort; Danish Centenarian Studies (1985 and 1905), The Metropolit Study 1953, and The 1914 Glostrup Cohort. At this workshop, Kaare Christensen (University of Southern Denmark) reported on recent collaborative research projects carried out by DARC.
CAMB – Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB). A new initiative whose goal is to establish a midlife biobank in order to study biological, cognitive and social variables that influence aging over the entire life course. CAMB will establish a biological and cognitive data base for subsamples of the Metropolit Study (born 1953) (Osler et al., 2004), the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort (born 1959–1961) (Zachau-Christiansen, 1972) and The Danish Longitudinal Study on Work, Unemployment and Health (born 1949, 1959) (Christensen et al., 2004). Each of these cohorts has unique advantages as well as specific limitations. By using all three study groups, CAMB will provide the opportunity to link biological and neuropsychological data with existing data from registers and questionnaires. Data collection for CAMB will take place 2009–2011. Kirsten Avlund (University of Copenhagen) presented a progress report on this project.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Health and Development 1946 Birth Cohort is a database of information on the health and development of 5362 British men and women, all born in one week in March 1946. The individuals in this cohort have been followed-up 21 times since birth. Collection of clinical data on this cohort is now underway. Initial clinical studies will focus on cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal function.”
DRUSE 